Ulsterisation facts for kids

Ulsterisation was a plan by the British government during a time of conflict called the Troubles in Northern Ireland. It was one part of a bigger plan that also included "normalisation" and "criminalisation." The main idea of Ulsterisation was to reduce the number of soldiers from other parts of the British Army (like England, Scotland, and Wales) serving in Northern Ireland. Instead, more of the security work would be done by local forces. These local forces were the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), which was the police force, and the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), a local army unit. The goal was to keep the conflict mostly within Northern Ireland.

What Does Ulsterisation Mean?

The name "Ulsterisation" comes from a similar plan used by the United States at the end of the Vietnam War. That plan was called "Vietnamization." In Vietnam, the US wanted to have more Vietnamese soldiers fighting and fewer American soldiers.

British leaders noticed that when soldiers from Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) were killed in Northern Ireland, it caused a lot of concern back home. They thought that if the conflict seemed more like "Irish people policing Irish people," it would be less upsetting for the British public.

Why Was This Plan Created?

The idea to use more local police came after a report in 1969 called the Hunt Report. This report suggested big changes for the RUC to make it more modern and like other police forces in the UK.

Also, in the 1970s, leaders worried about how much money the British Army was spending in Northern Ireland. They wanted to focus their army on other important tasks. So, the Ulsterisation plan was put together in a secret paper in 1975. It was created by a group of senior officers from the British Army, the RUC, and MI5 (a British intelligence agency).

How Ulsterisation Was Put Into Action

Ulsterisation also tried to improve how people viewed the RUC. The RUC's reputation had been damaged during the 1969 Northern Ireland riots, as some people felt they were unfair to the Northern Ireland civil rights movement.

Under Merlyn Rees, who was the first Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from the British Labour Party, more and more people from Northern Ireland joined the police and the UDR. This continued until 1985, when the Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed. Merlyn Rees and the RUC's Chief Constable, Kenneth Newman, also developed other plans, including "criminalisation." These plans were later continued by Roy Mason.

What Happened Because of Ulsterisation?

Ulsterisation changed who was most affected by the conflict. Before this plan, more British soldiers from outside Northern Ireland were killed or injured. After Ulsterisation, more local police and army members from Northern Ireland became casualties.

Another related plan, "criminalisation," tried to change how people saw the conflict. Instead of it looking like a war, the government wanted it to seem like a fight against criminal gangs. They believed that the deaths of British soldiers had a bigger political impact in Britain than the deaths of local security forces. By 1976, fewer British Army soldiers (who were not part of the UDR) were being killed. This helped prevent people in Britain from wanting to pull out of Northern Ireland completely.